PANDEMIC INFLUENZA

CHECKLIST FOR BUSINESSES

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 Pandemic influenza checklist for businesses

The government recommends that all organisations adopt robust and flexible generic business continuity
management arrangements which will help ensure that the impact of any disruptions will be minimised.
Current advice from the World Health Organisation is that countries should be planning for a possible
influenza pandemic, although timing of onset is highly unpredictable. In the event of an influenza pandemic,
businesses will have a key role to play in reducing the risk to employee’s health and safety as far as
possible, as well as maintaining essential operations. Given the highly uncertain nature of an influenza
pandemic, we cannot know in advance how serious it will be and who will be most affected, it is therefore
important that plans are developed which can address a range of scenarios. The UK influenza Pandemic
Contingency Plan contains more information on the types of scenarios which may arise.

To assist you in developing and reviewing plans, the Government has developed the following checklist
specifically regarding pandemic influenza. It identifies important and specific activities which organisations
can do to prepare for a pandemic as well as where more general guidance will be provided by the
Government. Directed mainly at medium and large businesses, some elements will be of use to smaller
businesses. Further information can be found at http://www.ukresilience.info including Guidance on
contingency planning for a possible influenza pandemic and Chapter 6 of Emergency Preparedness (the
statutory guidance that supports Part 1 of the Civil Contingencies Act; Chapter 6 covers business continuity
planning). General information on an influenza pandemic and the impact it might have, including the UK
contingency plan, can be found at http://www.dh.gov.uk/pandemicflu.

This checklist is not exhaustive. It is a guide to help you start thinking about what you may need to
plan for.

1 Plan for the impact of a pandemic on your business:

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Identify a pandemic coordinator and/or team with defined roles and responsibilities for
preparedness and response planning. The planning process should include input from a wide
range of stakeholders e.g. health and safety representatives and trade union officials.
Identify the critical activities undertaken by your business which would have to continue during a
pandemic, as well as the employees and other inputs that support those activities (e.g. raw
materials, suppliers, sub-contractor services/products, logistics, process controls, security).
Consider how internal resources could be re-allocated to ensure those activities are maintained.
Discuss with your suppliers/sub contractors whether they have robust Business Continuity plans in
place – your organisation is only as good as those on whom it depends.
Consider preparing an additional pool of workers to undertake key tasks and provide training
where appropriate (e.g. contractors, cross train employees, retirees).
Determine the potential impact of a pandemic on your business-related travel (e.g. should
international travel be curtailed in certain countries due to quarantines and/or border closures).
Note that current planning assumes that domestic travel will not be restricted, although the
Government may advise against non-essential travel.
Find up-to-date, reliable pandemic information on the Department of Health Website
http://www.dh.gov.uk/pandemicflu.
Establish an emergency communications plan and revise periodically. This plan should identify key
contacts (with back-ups), chain of communications (including suppliers, customers and
employees), and processes for tracking and communicating business and employee status.
Implement an exercise to test your plan, and revise periodically taking into account updated advice
and guidance from Government.

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2. Plan for the impact of a pandemic on your employees and customers:
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Guided by advice issued by Government, forecast and plan for employee absences during a
pandemic. This could be the result of a number of factors including personal illness, family
member illness, bereavement, possible disruption to other sectors for example closures of
nurseries and schools or reduced public transport.
As a general approach to reducing the spread of the infection across the country, assess your
business needs for continued face to face contact with your customers/suppliers and consider
plans to modify the frequency and/or type of face-to-face contact (e.g. video or tele-conferencing
instead of travelling to meetings) among employees and between employees and customers.
Whilst there is no intention to restrict domestic travel, the Government is likely to advise against
non-essential travel, and this should be taken into account in planning.
Plan for a likely increase in demand for employees welfare services, if they are available, during a
pandemic.
Identify employees and key customers with special requirements, and incorporate the
requirements of such persons into your preparedness plan.
Consider your customers’ needs during a pandemic and whether to review your business model
and arrangements to continue to meet those needs. (e.g. enhance mail ordering and internet
shopping capacities)

3. Establish policies to be implemented during a pandemic:

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Guided by advice issued by Government, establish policies for sick-leave absences unique to a
pandemic, including policies on when a previously ill person is no longer infectious and can return
to work after illness (i.e. when they are no longer showing symptoms and feel better) and agreeing
them with trade unions and other professional representative bodies.
Establish policies for flexible worksite (e.g. working from home) and flexible work hours (e.g.
staggered shifts).
Guided by advice from Government, establish policies for reducing spread of influenza at the
worksite (e.g. promoting respiratory hygiene/cough etiquette, and asking those with influenza
symptoms to stay at home).
Guided by advice from Government, establish the current policies for employees who are
suspected to be ill, or become ill at the worksite (e.g. infection control response, sick leave
policies).
Set up authorities, triggers, and procedures for activating and terminating the company’s response
plan, altering business operations (e.g. reducing operations as necessary in affected areas), and
transferring business knowledge to key employees. This should include nominating deputies for
key employees in advance, in case of absence.
And in the early stages of a pandemic with outbreaks overseas, but not yet in UK
Guided by advice from the FCO (which would be informed by the latest information from the World
Health Organisation and/or advice from Health Departments), establish policies on travel to
affected geographic areas overseas and develop policies on managing employees working in or
near an affected area when an outbreak begins (and later on in the pandemic). We are not
recommending that staff should be asked to stay at home for 2 weeks after return from affected
areas.

4. Allocate resources to protect employees and customers during a pandemic:

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Provide sufficient and accessible means for reducing spread of infection (e.g. provision of hand
washing facilities or hand-hygiene products).
Consider additional measures to reduce the risk of infection, such as more frequent cleaning on
premises, and ensure the resources to achieve these will be available.
Consider whether enhanced communications and information technology infrastructures are
needed to support employees working from home, tele-conferencing instead of face to face
meetings and remote customer access.
Consider policy on access to medical treatment for UK staff working overseas, and whether any
specific arrangements need to be put in place, and more generally develop policies, based on duty
of care, on managing your overseas staff taking into account possible reduced access to consular
services.

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5. Communicate to and educate your employees:
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Disseminate easily-accessible information about pandemic flu to your workforce which is appropriate
to the stage of alert (e.g. signs and symptoms of influenza, modes of transmission when this
information is available), personal and family protection and response strategies (e.g. hand hygiene,
coughing/sneezing etiquette, contingency plans). This should be based on the information already
available on the DH website.
Ensure that communications are culturally and linguistically appropriate.

Disseminate information to employees about your pandemic preparedness and response plan for your
business, including their role in this plan.
Develop platforms (e.g. hotlines, dedicated websites) for communicating pandemic status and actions
to employees, vendors, suppliers, and customers.
Ensure that DH, HPA and WHO websites are the sources for timely and accurate pandemic
information (domestic and international).

6. Co-ordinate with external organisations and help your community

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Find out about pandemic planning in your region and locality, for example through regional
resilience teams and local resilience forums, and liaise with agencies and local responders.
Share best practice with other businesses in your community, as well as through industry
associations.